Another Leafs prospect eliminated from the playoffs in Europe, headed to Toronto
Leafs GM Kyle Dubas has taken a lot of heat over the years for how he has chosen to use his draft picks. Not only has he traded his own 1st round picks in every year as GM, but he has only drafted in the 1st round twice in the last five years - in his first season as GM in 2018, after trading down to 29th overall and selecting Rasmus Sandin and then in 2020, acquiring Pittsburgh's 1st round pick and selecting Rodion Amirov at 15th overall.
Dubas has been able to find excellent value beyond the first round, so perhaps the number of 1st round picks traded doesn't really matter much - especially with so much promise being shown by players like Nick Robertson, Matthew Knies, Fraser Minten and Ty Voit, among others.
We have already seen 2020 3rd round pick Topi Niemela make the jump from Finland to the Toronto Marlies and now it appears as though another prospect from Finland is making his way over from Europe to join the Marlies, as Roni Hirvonen's postseason has also come to an end with HIFK Helsinki.
Finnish reporter Miikka Lahtinen is reporting as much on Tuesday, tweeting out what loosely translates as "Roni Hirvonen's season continues after the bronze medal match in North America. Hirvonen joins the strength of the AHL club Toronto Marlies."
Hirvonen was a 2nd round pick in 2020 (59th overall). He was drafted with one of the two picks that the Leafs brought back when they traded the 44th overall pick to the Ottawa Senators, which the Sens used to draft Tyler Kleven. Interestingly enough, the other pick that landed in Toronto (64th overall) was used to select the aforementioned Niemela.
Hirvonen finished his season with 15 goals and 28 points in 57 games. He also posted 7 points in 7 games with Finland at the World Junior Championship last year.
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